0 ver The EDGE page 5 Wednesday, Nov 8, 1995 UNBC Professor and Prince George Pregnancy Outreach Program Collaborate on Research Project © By Vince Yim ' As we speak, UNBC Professor Annette Brown, and Marlene Thio- Watts, the Executive Director of Healthiest Babies Possible, are col- laborating on a research project. The objective of this two-year project is to develop methods to reduce high risk activities such as smoking, drugs and alcohol during pregnancy. This col- laboration would involve both people involved using their resources to come to a positive outcome. This research collaboration is largely funded by Health Canada and is based - in Northern British Columbia, mostly because Prince George has one of the largest Pregnancy Outreach Programs in B.C. Standard research methods (such as one utilizing a controlled en- vironment) wouldn’t be appropriate for this particular project because smoking and addiction is a very diffi- cult issue to deal with because of all the social contextual issues involved. For this reason, Participatory Model research is used, one in which every- one is involved including the client group; in the design, intervention, and evaluation. In the long run, it takes more time (hence, the two year project), but the results are more mean- ingful to the pregnant women them- selves. The purpose of the Pregnancy Out- reach Program is to provide counsel- ling, education, and advice to high-risk pre-natal women who don’t have ac- cess to traditional health services. Forty to fifty percent of the clients of the Pregnancy Outreach are individu- als of Aboriginal descent. “High risk” can involve behavior like smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, medical prob- lems that may affect the pregnancy, or previous problems with bearing children. This can have devastating effects on the unborn baby such as miscarriage, fetal and neonatal death, sudden infant death syndrome, and low birth weight. For babies with low birth weight, the health care costs are estimated at a range of $500 to $1000 : per day. Long term costs on an emo- tional scale don’t even compare to the dollar value. “Most of the time, when people are talking about smoking cessation pro- grams, most often (they) are geared towards the mainstream white south- ern middle-class populations,” Annette Browne remarked in regards to the current smoking cessation pro- grams currently available to the gen- eral public. “And only recently have people begun to realize that...you can tell people to quit smoking all they want, but they won’t unless you look at the social context of their lives.” This was one of the reasons Ms. Browne took interest in the project, as it allowed her to take a look at the so- cial context of Aboriginal women. “Looking at smoking is just a win- dow (of opportunity) for looking at other addictive behaviors during preg- _ Ms Browne also remarked, nancy,” “My interest is to look at the concept of addiction during pregnancy with these women...and not just smoking.” Hopefully, the outcome of this project will be a positive one, an out- { come in which the smoking cessation strategies developed have a positive effect on their smoking and other ad- 1 | dictions during pregnancy. “I just ‘ think it’s really exciting,” Marlene Thio-Watts remarked. “One of the exciting things is that we don’t know where this will lead us.” (special thanks to Marlene Thio-Watts and Annette Browne) Tuition Increases Hit British Colum- bia Universities by Brian Dougherty College and University students across the country can brace them- selves for higher tuition fees come next September thanks to the federal governments cuts to transfer payments. In attempting to reduce their yearly deficits the Feds have been accumulating British Columbia can expect cuts in transfer payments, from Ottawa, to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $450 million in 1996-97 and another $825 million in 1997-98. To the average university student this shrinking federal transfer pie means that getting post-secondary education in this country just got a lot more expensive and perhaps a little more uncertain as to what pro- grams, resources, and services might be eliminated at various universi- ties across Canada including UNBC. Some of this uncertainty and fear has already surfaced at UBC and at the University of Manitoba. About 200 students in Vancouver protested after weeks ago in regards to that university’s-administration proposal to increase tuition fees by as much as 50 percent. Currently tuition at - UBC, in the Faculty of Arts and Science, is $2,295 per year. If the increase goes ahead students could-be paying $3,447 next year. At the University of Manitoba professors are on strike. The main issue in the labor unrest is the administration’s bid to eliminate professor’s tenure. If that university’s administration is successful in achieving its demands there are widespread fears that major cuts will follow with the possibil- ity of some faculties closing. (Continued on pg 15) Largest Selection North of hc South 50), 000 TITLES IN STOCK WE CAN SEARCH FOR ANY BOOK IN PRINT. OpEN Monpay_ - ‘THURSDAY & SATURDAY 9 - 6, Fripay 9 - 9. Phone: 604/563-6637 Fax: 604/563-6610 1129 - 4th Avenue, Prince George, B.C. V2L 335 ok